


Day 15. Muddy

by Munnin



Series: Fictober [15]
Category: Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003) - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-08-01 23:50:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16294310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Munnin/pseuds/Munnin
Summary: Gearing up for a mission sometimes means getting a little messy.





	Day 15. Muddy

**Author's Note:**

> Joe Hogan, look him up. He's awesome and he lets me play with his toys.

Skate landed the LAAT a safe distance from the mining convoy’s route, tucking the ship into the shadow of a rise of boulders. He stayed in the cockpit as the others made their preparation under the shade of the wing.

“Captain?” Linc looked down into the bowls of… well, dirt. “Tell me again what we’re doing with these?”

“You heard me the first time, trooper.” Fordo muttered, wrapping a scrap of cloth around his vambrace. “Like the general said. Add water, mix till mud, use it paint your armour.”

Linc still frowned. “I kinda like my armour the way it is now.”

“Then you’re gunna get shot.” Ridley grinned, pouring a bottle of hydro into one of the bowls. 

“Besides,” Gleeb pointed out, mixing up a bowl of his own, “the red stuff is almost our colour.” 

“Then why do I have to paint over it?” Linc was bordering on petulant now. The squad’s supply officer was crafty, clever at procuring useful things, and just a little bit vain. “And how come Wrathor and Rezz don’t have to dirty up their armour.”

“Because the heavies will be up in the rocks while we’re down on the plain herding the convoy.” Fordo repeated. Again. In the voice of someone sick of repeating himself unnecessarily. Linc knew the plan well enough. He was just being a pain for the fun of it.

“Hey, you never know.” Jat grinned, splattering a handprint of the sticky mud right on the middle of Linc’s chestplate. “It might look good on you.” 

Gel stood well back of the ensuing mud-fight, finger-painting his own armour with broad stripes of reds, yellows, blacks, and browns. Breaking up his form just as Djarrah had told them to. “Are they always like this?” He asked, wiping his hand clean on the exposed sections of undersuit inside his elbows. 

“Sometimes they’re worse.” Fordo muttered darkly, gesturing Gel to turn so Frodo could paint his backplate. 

Djarrah stepped around the lee of the boulders. “Well,” he shook his head chuckling, “I guess that’s one way of applying it.”

Gone was the Jedi robe, replaced with a loincloth of some sort of animal hide. Barefoot with spear in hand, everything about Djarrah perfectly matched the land. All but the sabre hanging at his hip.

He swiped two fingers through a bowl before Ridley tossed the contents over Fernie, painting a swath of yellow across his broad chest. Another to rub over the hilt of his sabre to make it less stark. “Just like we discussed – move and freeze, strike and drop. Just like the lizards.”

Crispy opened his mouth to ask _what lizards?_ Till he noticed them. All over the rocks and the dirt. Hell, even the side of the ship. No longer than the palm of his hand, the little lizards were everywhere. But you never saw them till they moved. “Oh, I get it.” 

Djarrah nodded. “To survive on this land, you need to think like the creatures who survive here. Move like them.” He turned to the two nervous Fire-Riders. “Except for you two. You just need to run and stay ahead of the transports. Make them chase you down.” 

“Sir, yes sir.” Jak and Opi echoed. They weren’t well pleased about being the decoys but they knew their part. Look like shinies, run like hell. And hope the droids took the bait.

Djarrah gestured of them both to take off their buckets. When they did, trying not to look as jumpy as they felt, he took a bowl of mud and drew a wiggly line on each of their cheeks. “You’re here to protect this land. Trust the land, and it will protect you.” 

Glancing at each other, they put their buckets back on. 

“Alright, men.” Gel announced, putting his own bucket on. “Form up and roll out.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you, Josh!


End file.
